Bihar assembly saw a sharp exchange between Deputy Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary and Leader of the Opposition, Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Tejashwi Yadav today, that speedily dropped to the level of pointing fingers at each other's fathers. While Mr Yadav alluded to the language used by the Deputy Chief Minister's father at rallies, the former retaliated with, 'Your father robbed the state... He sent me to jail".
While talking about the government led by his father Lalu Yadav and how much better it was in comparison to the current one, Tejashwi Yadav veered towards the Deputy Chief Minister, citing his and his father's takedowns on Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, who is now his boss.
"The government is a wreck, the system is useless, the Chief Minister is tired and defeated and the common man is wandering around helpless... Even if this government stays on for 40 years, it will keep making the same allegations as before 2005," he said.
Then taking a jibe at Samrat Choudhary, Mr Yadav said, "Earlier Samrat ji used to abuse the BJP, What happened now?"
"Samrat Choudhary is sitting here. I do not want to name his father. But his father's language at BJP rallies and the language he used for the Chief Minister - You also think about the language he used for the son of Nitish Kumar. You also were present on the occasion... Did your father not use abusive words for the Chief Minister? Stand up and deny it if you can," he said.
As the BJP MLAs broke out in a storm of protest, Mr Choudhury hit back. "What did your father say? He looted Bihar. He looted the poor. He robbed the whole state".
"I have been to jail. Lalu Prasad sent me to jail. It was only under the leadership of Nitish Kumar..." -- he had only got that far when Mr Yadav cut across: "From which party did you win the last time? It was our party. After that you are fated to lose".
"Do you consider yourself a king?" Mr Chaudhury scoffed. "At least I have not used any abusive word," the Leader of the Opposition shot back.
Samrat Chaudhary was a minister in the government headed by Rabri Devi, the wife of Lalu Yadav when he went to jail in connection with the fodder scam. He remained with the RJD even after it lost power in 2005.
In 2014, he became part of a rebel faction and joined the JD(U) government headed by Jitan Ram Manjhi.
Three years later, he joined the BJP, which recognised his potential as a fiery speaker and the face of the prominent Koeri caste. His rise in the party has been meteoric -- vice-president of the state unit, a berth in the legislative council and then a minister in Nitish Kumar's government. In March 2023, he was named the state BJP chief.
His father, Shakuni Choudhary, was an army man-turned-politician who started off in the Congress, and frequently switched allegiance between Lalu Prasad and Nitish Kumar.
